One Day Can Change Your Life Forever
by Caryl4ever
Summary: This fanfic starts when Daryl comes back after Rick left Carol behind. Daryl goes after her and everything changes.
1. Chapter 1

Daryl was excited after his run with Michonne and Tyreese and Bob to go home and see Carol. Theses few months they had gotten very close. She had had to stitch him up a few times and they would chit chat to pass the time, it got them closer. He had picked three perfect Cherokee roses for her. He had planned that after she comforted him about what Bob did (he knew she would) and after the fumbling awkwardness, he was gonna tell her how he felt, and then he was gonna kiss her. It was all planned out smoothly. But when he walked into her cell; she was gone. She wasn't anywhere else, he would've seen her.

Rick walked in behind Daryl.

"Daryl?"

Daryl set the flowers down on her bed and turned around.

"Where is she?" he grinded his teeth as he talked.

"She-she...I..."

Daryl lunged himself at Rick, getting a grip on his collar and throwing him against the bars of the cell door.

"Answer me!" He slammed him against the door again. "Where is Carol!"

"I told her to leave" he replied calmly

Daryl slammed him against the door a few more times.

"Daryl, you'll understand, just-"

Daryl cut him off, he leaned in closer to his face. "You said that you'd stop makin' decisions for us"

"It wasn't for-"

"If you banish one of the group you have to tell the rest of us" more slamming on 'tell the rest of us'. Then he let Rick go.

"Daryl"

"No!" He punched him hard making Rick splatter blood on his hand. Then he ran out of her cell and into his.

He pulled all of his belongings onto the floor and found another bag to stuff it all in. It was night time so Rick was probably the only one awake. Daryl walked into Carol's cell and grabbed her bag and put a few of her things in it. He put the Cherokee roses in his pocket and snuck into Rick's cell and took the map from him and Carol's excursion. (Rick wasn't in there).

Then he went outside and tied up all the bags and supplies onto his bike and started it up. He opened the gates for himself and went off to find his woman. 


	2. Chapter 2

It took him a few hours into night to find where Carol and Rick were. Then he had to wing it from there to find her. He always knew that if he really needed someone, he could find them. He wanted his brother back, and he came back; for a while. He wanted Carol back, and he was gonna find her.

He saw a familiar glow deeper in the forest. He stopped the bike and grabbed his stuff and walked into the trees. He smelled the smoke from the fire and prayed that it was her. He walked slower as her frame came into view; he knew it anywhere. As she heard his steps she shot up, holding her gun in defense.

"Daryl?!" She almost dropped her gun in surprise. "Did Rick..."

"No, he said he left you and I came lookin'..." he trailed off a little and his voice cracked "I-I'm not gonna stay there without you"

"Daryl..." there was so much kind sympathy in her face. "But did he...say...why?"

"Didn't have to. It wasn't that hard to figure out...Ya know how Zach wanted to know what I did for a living?"

She nodded. He told her while she was stitching him once

"Well, I was FBI, that's how I knew that Shane killed Otis...I have a sense for it...Merle's words; not mine" She showed a little fear in her face and Daryl saw that. "It wasn't wrong. It wasn't; and he shouldn't have kicked you out for it" he walked a little closer to her. "I'm on your side, I'm always on your side"

She smiled that beautiful smile and his heart jumped. He almost thought he'd never see it again.

"Don't FBI agents have to wear suits?"

They both laughed "That wasn't the point, but I was good enough that they didnt care that I went against dress code"

She laughed at him and stepped a little closer. "I'm glad you came, I was starting to miss you a little"

He stepped closer to her "Only a little?" He faked a frown and she smiled.

"Well...maybe a little bit more than that"

They smiled at each other as they got closer together. "Carol, I can't survive without you..." he stopped smiling and looked at the ground. She was still smiling at him though. She placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Daryl.."

He interrupted her and pulled her into his arms; he held her tightly and whispered into her ear, "I went into your cell and you were gone, I got so scared that something bad happened to you, I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise, you're the last person on earth that I truly care about" he kissed her cheek; she forced herself not to cry and she pulled Daryl's lips to hers and made him kiss her right.

"Ima' gonna stay with you" he kissed her, like in confirmation.

"Daryl, you don't have to..."

"I want to", he interrupted, and pulled out the Cherokee roses to her. She took them with trembling hands.

"Oh Daryl" She pulled him close to her and she rested her forehead against his. He lightly kissed her, careful not to ruin the way they were held together.

They stayed like that for a while. At one point Carol started shivering so they went and sat down by the fire. She snuggled up to his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him inside his vest. He pulled his poncho out of his bag and wrapped it around her. He kissed her hair and held her tightly. After a few more minutes of that, Daryl put out the fire enough that it wouldn't attract attention but it could still keep them warm. She curled up on the ground in Daryl's poncho and he hesitated before laying next to her. He laid on his back and stared at the sky, listening to Carol breathe as she tried to fall asleep.

"Daryl?"

"Hm?" He rolled onto his side to talk to her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to her, forcing him to spoon her. He kissed her cheek and fell asleep with her.

* * *

It was early and Rick just got up to do his farm work.

"What happened to you?" Carl came outside to help him out and he saw Rick's fresh bruises.

He lightly rubbed them with his hand "Nothing" he could barely get to sleep without thinking that he made a terrible mistake. He didn't think it would have pissed Daryl off that much.

"Hey Carl, go get Daryl, he needs to help...and I gotta talk to him"

"Alright" and he walked back into the prison. "Wait, dad?"

"What?" Rick expected him to ask about Carol.

"What if Daryl sleep-punches me again?"

He laughed "He doesn't know about last time, he won't know about this time now go"

Carl went inside the prison and walked to Daryl's cell; he paused; the cell was completely empty, no Daryl, no stuff, no anything. He ran back outside to Rick.

"Dad!"

"What's wrong?" He ran up to Carl.

"He's gone, Daryl's gone"

"Shit" they both ran back inside. Rick knelt on the floor in Daryl's cell.

"Dad, should I tell Maggie we need a search or-"

"No" Rick interrupted "I know where he went" he stood up to leave "There's nothing we can do"

He walked away leaving Carl shocked and confused in Daryl's empty cell.


	3. Chapter 3

"Carol? "

Carol wasn't lying next to him when he woke up.

"I'm here" she was looking through the bag that Daryl brought for her. "You brought some of my stuff?"

"Hm hmm, I figured that Rick didn't let you go back to the prison for your stuff. So I brought you some" He rolled over on the ground like he could fall back asleep. She crawled over to him and grabbed his hands. He pulled her to him and kissed her cheek. She laughed as he rolled on top of her to kiss her better. She grabbed his hand and looked at his wrists.

"I would've thought..."

"I only would've, if Rick said he killed you"

Carol had to stitch his wrists a few times after Merle died, since he had been having trouble with his past. She had been happy to listen to him ramble about when he was younger and what a dick Merle was to him.

He smiled as she kissed his hand.

"We have to find a place to go" He tried to get the attention off of him.

"I know...Where?"

He sat up "I was thinking somewhere in the direction of Atlanta...ya' know not all the way there but heading that way, it's in the other direction, ya' know?"

She nodded. "There's probably quite a bit of walkers out there though"

"Carol, I won't let nothin' happen to you. I came out here to be with you, I'll keep you safe"

She smiled and pulled him into her arms and hugged him close.

"Ya' know Carol, I had this whole plan for when I got back from that run"

She smiled brighter "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I was gonna give you the Cherokee roses, and I was gonna pour out my heart to you, and I was gonna kiss you"

"But I was gone..." Her smile faded with her words.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him "And I had to find you...maybe because...I love you...maybe"

"Maybe?" She raised her eyebrow at him.

"Maybe that's why I came out to find you, but I definitely love you, I definitely need you, and I definitely want to stay with you"

She placed a hand on his cheek and pulled him into a passionate kiss. "Well, in that case, I love you too" she said it in that cute flirty voice that Daryl loved so much. But he could never tell if she was serious or not; but that was a question for another day.

* * *

Rick gathered the group together in cell B.

"I know some of you have questions..."

Maggie was aggravated with Glenn being sick so she yelled to Rick "Rick, we are missing two people! Explain to us what happened, this group is falling apart!"

He interrupted her, if she had to say more "Daryl and Carol aren't coming back"

Then he got deluged in questions and shocked statements.

"Guys, listen to me-"

"Why the hell would you let them leave!" Michonne got up in his face.

"Carol killed David and Karen."

Everyone was quiet. Tyreese sat on the floor.

"She didn't know how much harm it caused the group"

Silence

"She thought the infection wouldn't spread...honestly, I know that all of you thought that"

Tyreese left the room and eventually everyone else followed.

Carl grabbed Rick's arm before he left.

"So, Carol killed them, you kicked her out and Daryl left to be with her."

He nodded and walked away from his son; who he had let down.

* * *

It took them a while to do it but Daryl got his bike on the back of another truck he found. It had a backseat and more room. Surprisingly, a full tank of gas. They put their stuff in the backseat and he drove off to find a place to stay.

* * *

It was dark; they were still driving and Carol was hugging her knees to her chest and trying not to fall asleep.

"We're gonna have to stop. I don't wanna risk clearing anyplace out without sunlight"

She nodded; her eyelids were heavy.

He stopped the truck, which seemed to jolt her awake.

"You wanna sleep in here or outside? "

"Here" She was too tired to talk without mumbling.

Daryl moved all of their bags onto the floor and laid down in the backseat; he reached his arm out to her and she climbed back with him. She could only get comfortable if she laid directly on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her to make sure she wouldn't fall off in the middle of the night.

He mumbled "Love you Carol"

She dug her head into his neck in her sleep. But Daryl took it as a response.


	4. Chapter 4

Carol awoke the next morning wrapped in Daryl's arms. They were only in the backseat of the truck so she couldn't get up unless he did. She moved some of his hair away from his eyes. She loved his long hair, but she hated how it blocked his beautiful blue eyes. They were even beautiful closed. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his breath and his heart beating. She really did love him; but she thought he didn't believe her.

The pattern of his breath changed as he woke up. He took a hand off Carol and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey" he smiled at her; even though it was early "You sleep ok?"

"Hm hmm" she nodded. Then she pulled herself up a little bit so she could kiss him. "I love you. I know you don't believe me when I say it, but I do"

He gladly returned her kiss "I love you too" he grabbed the driver's seat and pulled himself up so he was sitting, not laying. "We should get movin'" he nodded to her. He started to climb into the frontseat (giving Carol a nice view of his ass).

She grabbed his hand and pulled him back "Daryl" he sat back down next to her and squeezed her hand back. "I-he-he didn't kick you out-"

"Carol-"

"Daryl listen to me, I don't wanna deprive you of somewhere safe. That you can call home. I told you that I love you and I don't want you to stay out here just because I am. Don't pity me."

Those last words killed him. She doesn't believe him when he says he loves her.

He climbed into the frontseat in silence.

* * *

They had been driving in silence for about three hours before they reached a house. There weren't that any walkers that they could see, so they decided to clear it out and possibly stay there. Silently.

Daryl took out two walkers downstairs and motioned for Carol to stay behind him. She obeyed. She was upset from what she decided to call 'a lack of Daryl's voice'. They worked their way upstairs and found no walkers. They went back downstairs and Daryl put his crossbow on the island in the kitchen. He took a few of his things out of his bag. Carol couldn't help but watch how angry he looked. She picked up her bag and went upstairs in one of the two rooms. She picked the one with the bigger bed just because you want a lot of space after sleeping in the back of a truck. She sat on the bed and tried not to cry. She ruined her chances at the prison and she pissed Daryl off. Once she felt one tear on her cheek, she couldn't stop.

Daryl walked upstairs into the bathroom just to see if the water worked. He turned on the faucet in the shower and he was surprised when the water was warm. He went to the room Carol was in.

"Hey Carol, we have warm water-" he was cut off by the sight of her in tears. "Hey, hey baby what's wrong?" He got on his knees in front of her and rested his hands of her knees. He reached his hand up to her face and wiped her tears away.

"I never thought I'd be banned...and then on top of that...I pissed you off..." she trailed off into more tears.

"Carol, baby, I'm not pissed off at you"

"But you wanna go home, right?"

"I can't take you with me..."

She let another tear slip. "You said that to your brother, and you went back"

He wiped her tears. "And I went back, ignoring what I said, because you were waiting for me. I'm not pitying you, I'm not gonna leave you, I'm in love with you."

She cried more along with his words. His shoulder looked so comfortable right now

"Carol...c'mere" he held out his arms and she collapsed into them, hugging him tight and trying to stop her tears. "I love you Carol"

"I love you too"

They believed each other this time.


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter gets a little sexual, so be warned!**

* * *

She stopped crying and pulled out of his embrace. He pulled her back and onto his lips. She smiled weakly at him.

"We have warm water" he tried to distract her from the tears.

She uselessly wiped at her eyes "Really? "

He nodded and stood up. "C'mon" he held out his hand to her.

She smiled and took his hand; following him to the bathroom, where the water still ran. He held his hand under the stream; took it out and held it to Carol. She placed her hand on top. It was warm; his hands were usually warm but this was even better.

"I'll get your bag and you can take a shower" he started to leave but Carol caught his arm before he got too far.

"I don't need the bag" she grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her. He placed his hands dangerously low on her waist. She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. She brushed her fingers over the outline of his ab muscles. He didn't hesitate before pulling her shirt over her head and onto the floor. He always loved when she wore tank tops just because of her collar bone. He pulled her closer at the reveal of that sexy collar bone. He started kissing her neck and pulling her closer still. She fingered at his belt buckle; but because of how close he was she couldn't see what she was doing. He moved away from her and pulled off his belt and ripped off his pants, almost violently. Then he pulled Carol back into him. He kissed her hard but passionately. As he deepened the kiss she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He backed away a little to undo her belt and take her pants off. She reached behind her and grabbed at the clasp of her bra. Daryl moved her hands and unhooked it himself. She threw it on the floor with the rest of her clothes. Daryl took another step back to pull his underwear off. Carol had to hold her smile back when she saw the size of his dick. Instead of smiling at it; to distract her she slipped out of her underwear. She must've been avoiding him a little.

"What's the matter? " he was obviously horny; with his persistence and the fact that he was getting a boner after seeing Carol completely naked.

"Nothing. C'mere" She pulled him back to her and she just had to grab his dick, just for a minute. He guided her chin to make her look at him and he kissed her hard.

"Hey Carol?"

"Hm?" She didn't say any actual words so she didn't have to take her mouth away from his.

"Did you forget about the shower too?"

She turned around and saw the shower still running. She climbed into the shower and pulled Daryl with her. He wrapped his arms around her and slipped his tongue into her mouth. They didn't do much in the shower but they washed each other thoroughly.

Daryl turned off the water while Carol dried herself off a little.

"Well that was fun" she said when he got out of the shower and put his underwear back on.

"Wait, you think we're done?" She smiled and he picked her up.

He carried her to their room and he kicked the door shut. He tossed her onto the bed and moved her towel away from her. He started to lick her waistline, making her shiver underneath him. He pushed his underwear off again so he could fuck her. He climbed better on top of her and kissed her deeply.

They stayed that way for hours into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

He never knew that she had scars on her back too. He felt bad for her. He knew the humility of carrying those around forever. He traced them lightly with his finger. How could anybody do this to a woman? This beautiful, perfect woman. She stirred a little in her sleep and he moved closer so he could spoon her.

She rubbed her eyes "Daryl?"

"Hm?"

She rolled over so she could hold him tighter and give him a kiss. She smiled, holding back a giggle.

"What?" His confusion made her laugh.

"Your hair is such a mess right now" she laughed

He laid back in the bed and covered his face with his hands. "Yeah, laugh at my hair, you're so nice to me" he tried his best to imitate her flirty voice.

She sat up and put on her under-tank top and her underwear. Then she leaned back onto Daryl and kissed him. "Oh, c'mon, its cute"

"I ain't sposed' to be cute-"

"Oh but you are" again with the flirty voice.

"Anyways, I'm sposed' to be sexy" she laughed at him

"Well, you're that too, ya' know"

"Is that what the dick-grab was about?"

"Technically" she laughed more.

"Oh, c'mon, play along, its my turn to embarrass you! What was the dick-grab about?"

She paused "I just never thought..."

"Thought what? " he was laughing after every one of her responses.

"Well..." she wasn't laughing anymore

"Wait, what's wrong with my dick?!"

"Nothing!" She sat up and crossed her arms.

"Then what about the dick-grab?"

She was quiet "I just never thought... it would be so big..."

He didn't say anything for a minute..."It's not that big-"

"Daryl your dick is huge"

They were both quiet. "Really?" He smiled like a little kid and looked under his sheet.

"Daryl, don't look at it!" She started laughing again.

"Well I like never look at it, it's my own, I'm not that weird"

She covered her face with her hands "I can't believe I had sex with you last night"

"Oh you liked it" he laughed at her.

"Yeah but your being all weird now..."

He rolled onto his stomach so he was right behind her. "You're weird with me all the time, this is payback!"

They laughed at each other. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back onto the bed. He kissed her cheek. "I love you"

"I love you too" she kissed him.

"I should find my clothes, shouldn't I?" He said with some disappointment.

"They're in the bathroom, where you took them off"

He sighed and got up. He turned around (flashing Carol) "Really?!"

"Just go!" She giggled. She watched him in the bathroom, getting his clothes on.

He walked back in their room just wearing pants. (Which made him even sexier) "Did you put underwear on?" She knew he didn't; they were on the floor in their room.

He hopped onto the bed "Nope. Goin' commando"

She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"We should look around outside for stuff and possibly more water"

She nodded "K, I'll get dressed and we'll go"

"Yeah"

* * *

They had buckets and went down to the creek. Carol seemed distracted.

She said "When are we gonna boil this?"

"Idunno...later" She said nothing. "Hey" she said nothing so he splashed her with some water.

She turned around and looked at him, but no smile. He sat next to her "Hey, what's on your mind, baby?" He rubbed her shoulder.

"I wanna go home, Daryl"

"I know...Carol?"

"What?" They stood up and Daryl carried the buckets.

"Are you happy with me?"

"Daryl... it's not like I can go back there-"

He cut her off, "No not out here...I mean with me" he stopped walking "Have you ever thought something like, at least you're with me?"

"Daryl" she made him put the buckets down "I think that everyday. Even before we were together" she took his hand "I always said thank god I have Daryl, because no matter what happened to me you'd make me feel better" she kissed him and said "Of course I'm happy with you"

He smiled weakly at her and they carried the buckets inside.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Carol was staring out the window when she heard it.

"Walker?" Daryl grabbed his crossbow.

"No, it was a truck..." she looked at Daryl.

He put his crossbow on his back and then grabbed his Carol. He saw a crack in the wall on the stairs and he pulled it out more.

"Daryl" she could hear voices.

"The stairs are hollow, c'mon" he guided her in first and he climbed in after.

"Daryl, the guns are upstairs!"

"Shh!" He held her tight and tried to keep her quiet.

Then they heard it "Alright look everywhere, if it looks suspicious, ask me and keep an eye out for biters"

The governor was in their house.


	7. Chapter 7

Daryl was still holding Carol inside those (really convenient) hollow stairs. The governor was poking around downstairs and they could hear his footsteps really close to the stairs; they held their breath.

Then the voice unfamiliar to Carol "Hey, Governor. Biters." Daryl knew it was Martinez.

"Shit" he picked up his pace to see out the window "Alright, we'll come back when they spread out"

"But-" Martinez protested

"You wanna go face them biters alone for us? Or are you gonna obey me?"

He sighed "Yes sir"

Within two or three minutes they left. Daryl and Carol sat perfectly still until they knew for sure that it was safe.

Carol sighed from relief. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but, thank god for walkers"

Daryl stood up (the best he could under the stairs) "Stay here" he told her when she tried to follow him. She obeyed and sat back down while Daryl busted through the wall with his crossbow held high. Carol thought it was badass but it wasn't the appropriate time for comments.

"Yeah they left" he nodded to himself and held his hand out to Carol "Be careful though"

She took his hand and he pulled her out of the stairs. She steadied herself in the rubble of wall on the floor and held on tight to Daryl's arm.

"We gotta get out of the area. We'll go upstairs and grab our stuff-" when he looked at her she interrupted him and dove into his arms.

"I love you Daryl" she mumbled into his chest.

He kissed her hair "I love you too" she pulled away from him "C'mon" he grabbed her hand and they went upstairs to grab their bags.

* * *

"Daryl"

They had been driving for almost an hour now. Going in all sorts of directions, avoiding walkers, the prison, and of course the governor.

"What?"

"I just thought of something..." she had been thinking about their brush with the governor the whole time they were in the truck.

"What'd you think of?"

"The governor's gonna go back there, like he said, and all the broken wall on the floor...he'll know someone was hiding there and he'll be looking for people"

Daryl was silent. He sighed and said "We keep running" he looked at Carol's concerned face and he grabbed her hand. She unbuckled herself and slid closer to Daryl and wrapped her arms around his waist; resting her head on his shoulder. He seemed so happy to wrap an arm around her and drive with one hand.

"Yeah" he kissed her forehead "we'll be alright"

* * *

"Hey" Carol had fallen asleep on Daryl's shoulder.

She stirred a little "Hm"

"Carol, c'mon we gotta stop for the night"

It was almost dark and he saw a trailor in the forest so he decided it was good enough, at least on the outside.

"Carol" he decided that she wasn't going to wake up. So he put his gun on the dashboard for her and locked the doors while he went inside the trailer. He was right, it was completely abandoned. He went back outside and opened up the truck to get Carol.

"Hm...Daryl?" She moved a little in her sleep.

"Shh, baby, go back to sleep, I gotch'ya" he picked her up and carried her into the trailer. He laid her down on the bed and lit a lantern on the nightstand.

Carok woke up after he got the lantern lit. She jumped up at the sight of an unfamiliar place.

"Daryl?" She panicked.

"I'm right here" he held out his hand and she took it gladly. He sat next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. "Love you"

"Love you too" she was obviously still tired. She turned around and kissed him.

"Go to sleep, thats what we stopped for"

Carol layed down in the bed and reached her arm up for Daryl to join her.

"Hang on," he pulled off his shirt and kicked off his boots and pants.

"What are you doing?" She mumbled as he climbed into bed.

"Before the apocalypse I always wore just underwear to bed" he spooned her and told her to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Carol woke up to see Daryl sitting at the foot of the bed and checking their ammo. Still only wearing underwear.

"Hey you" she said as she stretched. He turned around and smiled.

"I didn't think you'd be up yet, you were pretty tired" She rubbed her eyes "You ok?"

"Yeah, I have a headache"

"C'mere" she crawled over to him and rested her head on the back of his shoulder. He turned around and pulled her into his arms. She kissed his cheek and he held her tighter. "We should go out there early so we don't have to stop in the middle of the night"

She nodded "Ok"

He kissed her "Ok, I'm gonna get dressed" he stood up and dug around on the ground for his clothes. They ate some day old squirrel meat for breakfast and left the trailer.

* * *

They drove around from house to house for a few weeks before they found this one house. It was perfect. There was a porch in the front that wrapped around to the back door. It was huge, there was three bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom. Downstairs was another bathroom and two more bedrooms. It was huge; and even better, there were Cherokee roses growing in the front and Carol couldn't resist.

"Carol, look how big it is, ya' know how many walkers could be in there?"

"But Daryl, look" she pointed to the Cherokee roses "that's our flower, that's our house"

"Carol, there's Cherokee roses over there too, whats wrong with that house?"

"It's not the same" she sat on the curb in front of the house and crossed her arms.

Daryl sighed and knelt down in front of her "Look I know that it's something we haven't had in a long time, but you have to keep in mind that it isn't safe anymore..."

She looked at him with those irresistibly beautiful eyes "Please...can't we just try?"

He sighed and stood up "You're lucky I love you"

And after a few hours of working and watching, the house was theirs.

* * *

Carol was waiting on the porch for Daryl. They had to find a pharmacy and get some supplies (or go anywhere else that might be useful).

Daryl came outside and handed Carol her bag of organized run-weapons.

"You ready?" He asked her as he threw his bag in the truck.

"Hm hmm" and he held the door open for her.

They drove around for an hour and found a pharmacy that seemed pretty lightly raided so that's where they decided to go.

Carol paused in front of the building. She looked up and saw towers "Are we in Atlanta?"

"No, but we aren't that far away from it. People will avoid going near Atlanta so the stores near here shouldn't be that picked over" he loaded his crossbow and headed towards the store.

"Makes sense..." she nodded and followed him inside.

Daryl looked around by antibiotics and other medical supplies. Carol was on the other side of the store looking around at the feminine stuff. She grabbed a box of pads and stuffed it in her bag. She walked along the aisle and saw that last thing she needed. A pregnancy test.

* * *

She didn't want to take the pregnancy test until morning. She didn't know why, but she wanted Daryl to be sleeping when she took it. She was in the downstairs bathroom when she took it. She sat on the counter and waited for the results. She picked up the box and read over the instructions again. Then she picked up the test and tried to wrap her mind around it. She was pregnant.

* * *

Daryl woke up alone. He stretched his arm over Carol's side of the bed. Then he forced himself up. He walked to the window; he saw Carol sitting on the porch, all alone. He put his pants on and found one of his shirts in a wad on the floor. He buttoned his shirt as he walked onto the porch to be with Carol.

"Hey love" he smiled at her. But when she turned around she looked like she didn't wanna see him. He sat next to her. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged. He rubbed her back and kissed her cheek.

"C'mon, you can tell me" he tried to comfort her.

"Daryl...I'm-I'm...I'm pregnant" his hand stopped rubbing after she said it.

He awkwardly stared at the ground "Are-are you ok?"

"Do you hate me now?" She mumbled into her hands.

"No, baby, no, nothing could ever, ever make me hate you. I love you more than anyone on this planet" he kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. I ain't mad" he looked at her "I mean, we are having a baby, right?" He smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Yeah. I love you so much" she rested her forehead against his.

"I love you too" he kissed her "We'll be ok"


	9. Chapter 9

"What are we gonna name it?"

Carol had started showing a couple of days ago and she seemed more worried about it. Before she was showing she just seemed a little distant. Now she was obviously always thinking about the baby.

"Idunno, what are you thinking?" He turned to face her (they were laying in bed).

"Nothing really...yet...we um..." she paused and just fiddled with the corner of the blanket.

"We what?" He brushed his hand through her hair.

"We-we can't name it Sophia..."

"I honestly didn't really think you wanted to...how come?"

She shook her head "I just...can't"

She looked at him and thought he was disappointed in her. He held her close "It's ok, baby"

"But...is that what you wanted to name it, I mean, if it's a girl" she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I have no idea what to name it" she smiled at his response. "We'll figure it out. We gotta while"

She nodded; she sat up and kissed him.

"I love you" he said as he ran his hands up her arms.

She smiled as she said "I love you too" and she lightly gave him a kiss.

She got up. "Where you goin'?" And without her response he knew where she went. Not a minute later he got up, went into the bathroom, and rubbed her back as she vomited. She sat back and leaned against the wall.

"Do we even have enough food for me to be pregnant?" He could tell that she was holding back tears.

"We can always get more food" he rubbed her shoulder.

"But it'll just get thrown up..." she wiped away one stray tear.

"You'll be fine, all women throw up when they're pregnant"

"But either I starve to death, or the baby does" and with that she started crying.

"Baby, nothin's gonna happen to you, or the baby. C'mere" he held out his arms and she willingly collapsed into them.

* * *

A few days later Carol relaxed about the baby and was less worried about it dying. Daryl had an idea; a good idea; a really good idea. But it involved going on a run. Alone. But there was no way that Carol would let him.

He walked into the basement where Carol was doing the laundry. "Hey" she smiled at him.

He sighed "Hey you"

"What's the matter?" She had that concerned face while she finished up the laundry.

"I got stuff to do today"

"Like what" she got up and brought the clothes upstairs.

"Like I gotta go on a run"

"When are we goin'?"

He sighed. He knew that she thought she was going. "We aren't. I am"

She dropped the basket on the table. "Daryl, no."

"Carol-"

"No. You are not going all by yourself. No Daryl"

"Baby, listen-"

"Don't 'baby listen' me. You aren't going by yourself. Period. "

"I thought you trusted me"

"Oh no, you are not pulling that crap on me" she walked away from him and he followed.

"Baby just please, I have to go out there. Alone."

She spun around "Oh my god!"

"What?" He was really confused at this point in conversation.

"You're cheating on me, aren't you? I have no idea how, but you are, aren't you? "

"Wha-? how the hell-? where would you-? Carol, how many times do I have to tell you that I love you more than anything"

She slapped his hand away. "You got mad" her voice squeaked with her tears "because I'm pregnant and then you'd go out and find some other woman" she bursted into tears "and you don't love me anymore..."

"Carol that is the stupidest-" he sighed "Ok, Carol baby, that's not it at all...I'mean that doesn't even make sense"

"Yes it does. Men always fall in love with another woman when they get their girlfriend pregnant" she went upstairs.

"Carol!" He followed her up the stairs. But she got to their room first. She shut the door behind her. He wasn't stupid. He knew that he shouldn't try to open the door. Could be locked, could be unlocked, its not his decision if its locked or not.

"Carol, I will never ever ever love anyone else" Again, he wasn't stupid, he wasn't going to tell her that it was her hormones making her upset. "Baby, answer me please"

He heard her come closer to the door. "You promise?" She sniffed.

He sighed. He was gonna sound really sappy. "No. I'm gonna love another girl in a few months. She'll look like you and call you mommy"

She opened the door. "Oh my god, Daryl, that was the sweetest most cutest thing I have ever heard" and she threw her arms around him.

* * *

Carol eventually let Daryl go on his run. He was glad that she didn't force him to take her with. He was nervous when he got home. Carol didn't seem mad or upset when he left, but that hug lasted pretty long.

He slowly opened the door to their room. Carol was dressed for bed in her tank top and pajama bottoms. She was sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Are you ok?" She sniffed a little and Daryl knew that she cried while he was gone.

He said nothing while he put his hand in his pocket. He grabbed her hand and knelt down in front of her.

"Carol" he pulled the box out of his pocket. "I love you more than anything, more than I care about myself, I had to go by myself to get you this" he opened the box, revealing that diamond ring. Silver with one diamond surrounded by a circle of little diamonds. It wasn't that small of a thing.

"Carol, will you marry me?"

"Daryl..."

"Please..."

"Who said I wouldn't?" She smiled at him. He looked confused. She laughed a little "Yes, I will marry you"

He got up and threw his arms around her and kissed her. "I love you so much"

"I love you too" he sat next to her and slipped the ring on her finger.

"What about you?" She looked at his bare hand.

He pulled out another box. "Girls wear two right?"

"Yeah, engagement and wedding"

"Good cuz' that's what I got you" he opened the box and there was a silver pair of wedding rings. He put the wedding ring on her finger and she put his on him. He kissed her.

"You still think I'm cheating on you?"

"Absolutely not"


	10. Chapter 10

Carol woke up a little early a few days after Daryl asked her to marry him. She leaned over and kissed his cheek even though he was still sleeping.

"Hm" he rubbed his eyes "Carol?"

"What, baby?" She brushed her hand through his hair.

"What time is it?"

"Early" She smiled; he was so cute when he was all tired and half-awake.

He stretched out his arms and wrapped one around Carol, pulling her closer to him. He kissed her cheek. "I love you"

"I love you too, Daryl" She rested her hand on her growing stomach. "Daryl feel" She grabbed his hand and placed it where hers was; he felt their baby moving around inside her. He leaned over and kissed her.

"Hey Carol" he smiled

"What?"

"We're having a baby" she smiled at his response.

"Yeah we are" they laughed together.

"Are you worried...or scared about it at all?" He had been wondering but he never knew when to ask her.

"Of course I am" she grabbed his hand "but I have to keep moving" she kissed it. "Soon enough, I won't have to worry anymore"

He paused "Wait, you don't mean-"

"I mean after its born" she knew that he thought that she thought that she was going to die during child birth.

He nodded "...You know I won't let anything happen to you...ever"

* * *

[4 months later]

* * *

Carol was five months along now (apparently she was keeping track) and her and Daryl were on a run...sort of. They were basically exploring a few towns over to see if there was anywhere with good supplies.

"Daryl?"

"What?"

"What was your mom's name? "She was looking down at her stomach and Daryl knew that she was thinking about names again.

He sighed "I don't know"

She looked at him; she didn't believe him "How do you not know your mom's name? "

"Because anytime me or Merle would ask her she'd say 'my name is mom and that's the last I'll hear of it'"

"Yeah but I bet that wasn't the last she heard of it" she smiled at him.

"Hell no" he got that face he made when he was trying to sound funny but was serious at the same time "my damn curiosity was peaked! And she said that every time"

Carol giggled at him. "What was your mom like?"

He sighed "My mother" she thought he was going to say something terrible "was much nicer than I gave her credit for. She was the only person who could control my father. To this day, I still think he truly loved her. Her never hit her. Ever. He'd yell at her, he'd threaten to leave her, but he never hit her once. And he never left." He paused. "You know the story about when my mom died, with the fire?"

"Yes. You told me"

"Bullshit"

She looked confused "All of it?"

"Well, she died in bed, I guess it was from smoking" she was still confused so he kept going "Well from the smoking in bed and whiskey for breakfast, she got really sick and she refused to go to the hospital. One time I went in her room and said 'Mama, can you quit smokin' please?' And she said 'Daryl, my baby, you'll learn soon enough that men can never tell women what to do' and then I said 'But you have to get better!' And she cupped my face and told me 'If God wants me better, he'll make me better, if he doesn't, I was never meant to be'."

"Your mom sounds like an inspirational part of your life" Carol told him.

He nodded and said quietly "She died that night while I was sleepin'. I woke up and walked to her room and Merle was standin' outside it actually crying and then my daddy came out and said 'No more mom'. He never talked about her again."

He looked at Carol who looked so sad at the moment "How old were you?"

"Seven" there was a moment of silence "Talk about inspirational, one time when me and Merle were fightn' about somethin' stupid and she did absolutely nothin' about it; when we were done fightn' I got on the chair next to her and asked her 'Why didn't you do nothin' to help me?' And she said 'Because I want you to laugh at it when your older. If I got in the way and got you guys in trouble, you'd just get mad at each other for somethin' stupid in the future and you wouldn't be able to laugh at it'"

Carol looked at him sympathetically "She sounds so poetic"

"Yup" he nodded and then stopped the truck.

"Where are we?" She sat up and looked out the window.

"See that pale blue house?"

"Hm hmm"

He sighed and opened his door "I grew up there"


	11. Chapter 11

"So this is where we were going the whole time?" They were walking towards Daryl's old house.

"No, but once I recognized the neighborhood I thought 'What the hell, why not'" He looked around and got in front of Carol with his crossbow.

He slowly opened the door and looked around. The house was covered in dust and old beer cans. The way it was when he moved out when he was eighteen. There were no walkers there. Carol closed the door behind them. She stayed behind him; he knew the house. She wrapped her hand around the handle of her knife and kept her other hand on her stomach. He guided her through the house. He checked all the rooms and they separated once they found no walkers. Carol went into the room that was obviously Daryl's when he was younger (well obviously his and Merle's since there was two beds). She sat on one of the beds and looked around. She saw a nasty looking blood stain on the wall and the sad part was that she was trying to figure out if it was put there before or after the apocalypse.

Daryl went straight to his parents' room. He hadn't been in there for a long time. He sat on the floor and stared at the wall. After his mom died, his dad got rid of all her stuff, and almost instantaneously it was like she was never there. He opened the drawer on his mom's side of the bed. He found an empty beer can (credit to his dad), a used syringe (credit to his dad), and for some reason an old pair of his socks from when he was like five. Under the socks and some wrappers he saw her wallet. He remembered very clearly what it looked like because she never carried a purse. He opened it and he wasn't surprised that there was no money (thanks to his dad probably) instead of money in the pockets there were pictures. He knew that his mom took pictures but he thought his dad burned them when she died; so she could have them back. He pulled them out and saw two baby pictures of Merle, three baby pictures of him, one picture of him and Merle when they were little, and one picture of his parents when they were younger. Probably in high school. His dad actually looked...nice. The kind of guy that was everybody's friend. He had his arms tightly wrapped around Daryl's mom. It scared him how much it reminded him of him and Carol. He put the pictures down on the bed and he saw his mother's driver's license. It said Jordanne L Dixon. Carol walked in the room.

"Jordanne. My mom's name was Jordanne" he didn't realize that he was smiling.

"Can I see?" She held her hand out. He handed it to her. "You look like her"

"Merle used to say that. Merle used to be nice" he said as he picked up the picture of the two of them. Carol looked at it from where she was sitting. She sat next to him on the floor and looked at the picture with him.

"I'm guessing you're the little one" she smiled at him.

"Yeah...Merle wouldn'ta' smiled if mom didn't make him laugh...I was laughing at Merle laughing"

She giggled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. He grabbed the other pictures and handed them to her.

"Aww" she sat up "look at little baby Daryl!"

"I wasn't that cute"

"Oh my god, look at your cute little hands! Aw, I want ours to look like that" she smiled at him and he glanced at her stomach.

"Here" he handed her the one of him when he was about one and a half.

"Oh my god, little Daryl diaper butt!" She looked at him as he sighed. "Oh come on! You were adorable!" He smiled a little "Hey" she elbowed him "I love you"

"I love you too" he sat up and kissed her. "I haven't been in this room since she died" he looked around. "Merle used to tell me that she haunted it"

"You miss him anymore? "

He nodded weakly. "I miss all of 'em 'cept my dad"

She gripped his hand. "Well...Merle's with your mom again"

That was the first time anyone had referenced Merle going to heaven. "Yeah but my dad's there too"

"People like that don't go to heaven." She looked around "I Sophia's as far away from Ed as she'll ever be"

He kissed her cheek. "Baby, don't worry about it...if she's lucky, she'll run into the wisdom of my mother" Carol smiled at him with watery eyes.

"Gimme' those other pictures"

He handed her the other pictures, even the one of his parents. She looked through them. "Should we get home now?"

He stood up "Yeah" he held out his hand to help her up. While they were walking down the hallway he stopped at his room. He was holding Carol's hand and when he stopped, she did. She looked at him.

"Just...gimme' a minute" he walked into his room. He could see young Merle and him playing catch from their beds. Sharing a room was a terrible idea, their fevers would ricochet off each other and they would be out of school for weeks at a time. He was gonna miss it here. "Alright let's go" Once they were outside he looked back at the house. That was the last time he was going to see it.

* * *

He was laying in bed with Carol. She was facing the wall, her back to him. He was staring at the ceiling. He grabbed the pictures off the nightstand. He looked at the one with him and Merle. He missed his brother. He really did. More than he acknowledged, but he did. Hell, he loved his brother. He didn't realize it, but he was crying. He put the picture down and wrapped his arms around Carol and tried to focus on her instead of Merle.


	12. Chapter 12

Another month passed by and Carol seemed to be showing a little more everyday. Eventually Daryl got scared because he realized that if they didn't find some place to go, with other people, he would have to deliver their baby. He had no idea how to do that. He wondered if Carol needed a C-section when she had Sophia. If he had to do a C-section, he'd probably hurt her, or worse...

"Carol, I gotta talk to you about...stuff" he walked into their room after his shower. He had no idea why he always thought about this stuff in the shower.

"What'sa matter?" She was folding clothes in her lap.

He paced around in front of her. "When you had Sophia...Did you have to have a C-section?"

She looked up at him. "Daryl, you've seen me naked, how have you not noticed that I don't have a C-section scar?"

"You have lots of scars, I don't know!"

"It's a pretty distinct scar" she held her arm out, motioning him to sit next to her. "Baby, what's on your mind right now?" She brushed her hand through his hair.

He mumbled "We need to find another group"

She paused "I know, I had been thinking that myself..."

"I don't know how to deliver a baby" he mumbled quieter this time.

"I know." She said in her softest voice, the one that she knew Daryl loved the most. "We should of started looking a long time ago...we only have a few months left"

He only nodded.

She rubbed her belly and smiled "This is probably a good ticket in though right?"

He watched her hand and smiled back at her. "Yeah...we'll be ok, right?"

"Right" she nodded and smiled. She kissed his cheek then he turned and lightly pecked her lips.

He got up. "I'll go get the map and we'll see what places look lucky"

She nodded and he went.

* * *

They decided to go further south, almost by the border into Florida. It seemed like there'd be more people since it was closer to another state, they just seemed to be running out of people in Georgia.

"Ya' know this means we can't come back to the house" he looked towards Carol and knew she was disappointed.

"I know..." she looked down. "I'm gonna miss it" then she whispered "But we gotta do what we gotta do to keep this baby safe..." she looked up at him and smiled weakly.

He sighed. "Wait here" then he disappeared out the door. He came back in a few minutes later and handed her a small bouquet of Cherokee roses that made her smile.

She whispered "I'm so lucky to have you..." she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Yeah you are" he giggled with her and she pressed her forehead against his. He placed a hand on her belly. "I felt it" he smiled.

"Yeah that'll happen..." she giggled. "I love you"

"Love you too, baby" he lightly kissed her. "Do we have everything? " he pulled away from her and looked around.

She nodded.

"Ok, so we should go..." he paused and held out his hand to her.

She nodded and took his hand. They walked away from the house and neither of them looked back.

* * *

"Daryl I don't wanna be running around anymore"

They were driving around for a few hours and it was almost dark out. "I know, baby, I'm tryin' to eyeball the houses to see if they're safe." He knew that she was tired and possibly in pain. "Just go to sleep and I'll wake you up when we get there"

"Daryl, I just don't wanna go anywhere else"

He stopped driving "What are you saying? "

"I don't think we'll find a group. I think we're wasting our energy and...and" she started to cry.

"Carol, baby, we'll be ok I ain't lettin' anything happen to you and I sure as hell ain't lettin' anything happen to this baby. To our baby. Carol, we will be fine. We have to find a group because it's safer for the baby. Alright? "

"Hm hmm" she held back more tears.

He started the car up and continued down the road to find a place for the night.


	13. Chapter 13

They drove around for a few weeks before they saw that wall. That wall so obviously man-made. That wall looked safe...and they were desperate.

"Daryl, what if this is where the governor-"

"No, we have to check, we need people" he got out of the truck. "You stay here, Ima' go check it out" he leaned over and kissed her, handing her a gun. "Stay safe" he got out and headed toward the wall. He heard the sound of guns cocking.

"What's your business here!?"

He heard strange voices in the background. "We need a place. It safe there?"

"Depends, who's we?" That man said. Then a woman appeared next to him.

"Joel stop" she said "Open the gate so I can go down there" she got the Joel person to open the gate and she met up with Daryl.

"I'm Ana, I'm basically the beginning of this group. I was here first and all these people added on. We've dealt with new people before. Joel's just a little off putting. But continuing his brute questioning, who's we?"

She was nice enough. Nothing like the governor. He doubted she even knew him "Me and my wife" he answered her. He motioned to Carol to come and join him. When she came to him and took his hand Ana took a quick glance at Carol's stomach. "Please" Daryl continued "we're desperate" he said quietly.

She paused "Get your stuff and c'mon in we'll deal with your truck later"

Daryl walked to the truck to get their bags and Carol lingered by Ana "Thank you" she told her and then joined Daryl. Ana nodded to her.

* * *

They were sitting in the infirmary of this little town. Ana came in and sat across from them.

"I'm sorry about all this" Ana said "Like I said we have dealt with new people, just not often. Don't judge us on our precautions"

Daryl shrugged to her. One woman, Dr. Naomi, was filling syringes.

"What's that?" Carol asked.

"Oh" Ana said "Well a flu came through here once and took out a lot of our people. This may or may not be the proper vaccine for it but it works. We give it to all our new people." She paused "Oh yeah, and we'll have to give it to your baby when it's born"

"That's fine" Carol said. "That flu went through our old group"

Ana nodded "How long have you been on your own?"

Carol replied "A good long while. How long has it been?" She looked at Daryl.

"Seven months, give or take" he said

Ana continued "Well, we'll clean up a house for you two, with about three rooms. It'll be safe so you can raise your baby here. You guys can relax, Dr. Naomi here has delivered more than one baby"

Daryl was amused by how much Ana talked about their baby. She seemed like the motherly type. She probably has a child. Or at least had. He knew that face.

* * *

She walked them to their new home. "Well, as you can see it's fairly big. Big enough yard. You should be happy here" she smiled to them.

They walked inside and Carol looked around. Ana handed Daryl the keys. "Oh and that group that you used to belong to...why'd you leave?"

Carol glanced at Daryl. He gave her the answer "That infection kept takin' people out. One night it took out almost twelve people. We didn't feel safe there" which wasn't entirely lying.

Ana nodded and turned to the door "Well, you don't have to worry about it here, we have it under control. Good luck to you guys"

"Thank you" Carol told her as she left the house. Then she looked at Daryl and sighed from relief "That was scary"

"I know" he grabbed her hand "Let's go look around"

She nodded and followed him up the stairs. The bigger room had the bigger bed so that's where they put all their stuff and Carol layed down on the bed.

"It's comfy" she told Daryl and he layed down next to her and kissed her.

"Yup" then they heard a knock on the door. Daryl looked toward the stairs. "Long time since I heard that sound. Stay here" Carol nodded and he went downstairs and opened the door. There was a guy that he didn't see before.

"Yeah, hi, I'm Ana's brother Anthony, she forgot to give you this" he handed Daryl a piece of paper with some writing on it.

"What's this?" He skimmed over the paper.

"Oh that's the schedules and stuff. Um, yeah, everyone gets five minutes of hot water a day, per person. If it gets cold while you're using it just don't do anything cuz that means someone else is using the hot water. And don't take the time that its cold out of your five minutes just keep going."

"K" he nodded. "Oh, hey what's this part?" He pointed to the corner of the paper.

"That's the fun part" he got a little excited "thats a schedule of all the houses, yours is nice and circled, and their days where they get to hook the generator up to their tv and they can watch dvds and play old video games for a day"

"K" he nodded. He was about to go back in the house.

"Oh, and" apparently this guy wasn't done talking "congratulations on the baby. Is this your first?" He asked warily.

He looked at Anthony and skimmed through his past in his head. No one needs to know, he thought. "Yep" and he closed the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Daryl and Carol had gotten better acquainted with the neighborhood. Carol said that she had never had so many people touch her belly in her entire life.

Daryl woke up in his new house one morning and felt unusually safe. He looked at Carol, who was fast asleep. "Carol, you wanna get married today? "

"I thought we were already married" she mumbled.

"I mean really married. These people keep track of legal documents. I don't want this to get better and then have some government official call you Carol Peletier. I want you to be an official Dixon"

"It can be official between us" she still hadn't opened her eyes yet.

"That ain't good enough. I want everything to be perfect for you."

She blindly gripped his hand. "It's already perfect"

He kissed her hand "But it could be better. Don't you want it better? Take advantage of it."

She opened her eyes and sat up. "What are you asking me?"

"I'm asking you to marry me"

"I already said yes" she got up and walked to their dresser.

He knelt on the bed and grabbed her hands. "Carol, I love you. I want you to be a Dixon. I want this to be the best it can be. Carol, baby, will you marry me? Today?"

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh Daryl, I love you" she wrapped her arms around him. He held her in return and buried his face in her shoulder. She pulled away and passionately kissed him. "I'll marry you today" they smiled together and Carol kissed him one more time.

* * *

One of the people in their group was ordained before the apocalypse. Daryl got up to go talk to him.

"Hey Finn, you in here?"

"Yeah, what's up, Daryl? " he was trying to fix his son's skateboard. (His son died last year. He just fixed all of his belongings to pass the time. A lot of people here lost children)

"I need you to do me a favor"

"Sure, god knows I got the time, what'cha need?" He kept working.

"You're ordained right?"

"Yeah, my wife wanted me to marry her sister and her husband. But the same day that I went online and did it, they called off the wedding. My wife blamed me and I barely talked to her sister" His wife died a week after his son did. This guy was kind of a constant downer.

"Okay, well, I need you to marry me and Carol tonight"

"I thought you were already married"

"Technically we just got engaged. I call her my wife cuz' I never thought we'd find someone to marry us officially, ya' know?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'll do it just lemme' know when, where, and the details"

"Thanks, I'll get back to you on that"

* * *

"I'm goin' on a run" Daryl gathered his things and told Carol.

"When you comin' home?"

"It should only take forty five minutes, give or take. I ain't goin' far"

She got up and wrapped her arms around him. "Ok...Stay safe" she kissed him.

"I will"

* * *

He walked around a little outside the wall. He gathered Cherokee roses. He wound a few of them together to make a bracelet for her. This was going to be perfect.

* * *

Daryl had told Finn to meet him at his house at 7:30. He sat on the coffee table and waited for Carol.

She opened the door and walked in slowly. "Hey baby, what's this?"

He stood up and put the Cherokee rose bracelet on her. "I thought we agreed this morning that we were gonna get married tonight"

"You meant that? Oh my god, Daryl" she kissed him.

"Of course I meant it. You still want to?"

"Of course baby!" She kissed him again. Then there was a knock on the door. "Wait, now I'm confused"

"Carol, Finn's ordained, we are going to legally get married" she smiled at his preparations.

Daryl let Finn inside. "Are you guys ready?"

Daryl looked at Carol. "You ready to do this? "

She nodded and smiled. He took her hand.

Finn continued "Do we wanna just cut to the chase then?" Daryl nodded. "Ok, do you have vows prepared? " Daryl nodded.

"Carol" he placed his hands on her face "I love you more than I have ever loved anyone or anything in my entire life. I will never let anything bad happen to you. You are the most important thing to me on this planet, you are my main priority. And this baby" he put a hand on her belly "this is the best thing that could happen to us. I could never express to you, how important you are to me. Hell, I've loved you since the farm, or that's at least when I realized it. If I could erase every scar that Ed gave to you, I would do it. You're a vital part of me. I wanna be with you forever. I love you."

She let a tear roll down her cheek. Finn nodded to her, motioning her turn. She put her hands on his shoulders and realized that his shirt was actually clean. "Baby, I have known you since you were too embarrassed to talk to me" he smiled "but I never thoughg that I would see this side of you. I love you so much and I love that you're so opened up with me that you can actually romantically surprise me. I'm so much happier with you and I wish that you had been with me from the start. I'd probably still have my little girl...but all I need is you. All I want is you. And I know that you will be a perfect father to our baby"

She started crying again and Daryl rubbed up her arms. Finn cleared his throat. "And now, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife" he opened the door and turned to leave. "Go ahead, kiss her" then he just walked out.

Daryl pulled Carol close to him and kissed her the best that he could and tried to make this better than the rest. She deserves it.


	15. Chapter 15

"Daryl" Carol was sitting up in bed and waiting for Daryl to get up.

"Hm?" Apparently he finally woke up.

"I think maybe we should talk to Dr. Naomi"

"Why, what'sa matter?" He sat up next to her and grabbed her hand.

"Well, Daryl, I mean, the baby's coming any day now...and we should just be ready..." She was right, a couple months have passed since they got married and the baby was coming soon.

"Well she knows you're pregnant, how much more preparation is there?"

"We should at least tell her that we'll need her soon..." she trailed off.

"What's wrong baby?" He wrapped an arm around her.

"I'm scared, Daryl...what if I don't make it? What if we lose the baby?" She was holding in tears.

"Hey, you'll make it, so will this baby" he pulled her closer to him "You're strong, I know you are; and the baby's a Dixon, Dixons are born strong. Besides, don't you have like a week left of the pregnancy? "

"A little less than a week. Few days" she rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her hair.

"You'll be fine, worrying will just make it worse" he brushed his hand through her hair and she nodded on his shoulder.

* * *

They were sitting in the infirmary again. Dr. Naomi had left the room for a minute to help someone who needed stitches. Daryl had grabbed one of those baby books off the counter because he was bored.

"This is so gross" he said as he was looking through the book.

"So stop looking at it" Carol was sitting on the examination table.

"I can't, that's how gross it is" and she laughed at him. "Don't laugh, it's gross, theres _pictures_"

She took the book from him "So stop looking at the pictures"

He sighed after she took it "Thank you. I probably would've just kept lookin' at it" he smiled as he made her giggle.

Dr. Naomi walked back in the room "Sorry guys" she said "But as I was saying, you should be fine, and I'll be here if you need me"

"Thanks" Carol said as she got up and grabbed Daryl's hand.

"And don't do anything too strenuous" she said as they walked out the door.

* * *

"What are you doin' in here?" Carol had been looking for Daryl and she found him sitting on the floor in the baby's room.

"How long do you think it would take to finish setting up the room?" Since they don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet all they could set up was the furniture. They had clothes and bedding and stuff, but they had it in blue and in pink so they just had to put all that stuff in the room after the baby's born.

"Not that long. Why?"

"Cuz' we'll need the room right away when we get home"

"Well, we can wait a few minutes til' we at least get the bedding together, right?"

He noded and looked at the floor

"I don't think you're worrying about the room"

He shook his head. "I might be a little scared too" he looked up at her.

"We'll be fine" she smiled at him. She held out her hand "C'mere so I don't have to go down there" He took her hand and stood up to kiss her. She lightly kissed him back. Then she put her hand on her stomach. "Daryl, my water just broke"

"What?! What do we do?" He backed away from her.

"Daryl relax, there aren't any contractions yet, so we just go back to the infirmary and Dr. Naomi can take over" Lucky for them, the infirmary wasn't that far from their house.

* * *

They had been sitting in the infirmary for a while. Carol's contractions started about an hour ago. Daryl was sitting by her side, occasionally panicking.

"Daryl" she took his hand "I'm fine...really"

He grabbed a wet rag and wiped some of the sweat off her forehead. "You don't look fine"

"Daryl it hurts like hell, I'm not supposed to look fine" She held his hand tighter as another contraction came on.

Dr. Naomi came in the room to check on Carol. "How are you doin'?"

Carol sat up; leaning more on Daryl. "I gotta push"

Dr. Naomi sat down in front of her "I thought so. Now, Carol, just relax and remember to breathe"

She nodded, took a deep breath, and started to push. She gripped Daryl's hand tighter; making _him _wince in pain.

That same thing repeated for hours. Except Daryl's hand got numb enough that it didn't hurt anymore. At one point Carol stopped pushing. Dr. Naomi looked up at her "Carol, I can see the head, you have to push"

She shook her head "I can't" she said breathlessly.

Daryl rubbed her back "Yes you can, Carol we've been waiting months and now it'll only take a few more minutes and we'll have our little baby"

She hesitated "Ok" she made sure Daryl was holding her hand, gripped the mattress with her other hand, squeezed her eyes shut, and pushed. She pushed for about ten more minutes and then she heard it; that beautiful sound, their crying baby and her pain went away. She leaned back on the pillow and watched Dr. Naomi with the baby.

"It's a girl" she told them. Then she got up to clean up the baby.

Daryl looked at Carol "You ok?" He wiped away a tear that she didn't even know she was crying.

"Hm hmm" she nodded. "Daryl go get the baby"

He kissed her hand before he got up. He stood by Dr. Naomi and watched as she and her assistant, Julia, prepared the vaccine for the baby. When they gave her the shot she cried louder. Then Julia wrapped her up in a pink and blue handprint patterned blanket. Then she walked over to Daryl and handed the baby to him. He stood there and held her as her eyes popped open. They were exactly like his. He smiled at her and brought her over to Carol. He gently placed the baby in her arms and sat beside her. She smiled at her new baby.

"She's perfect" Daryl whispered to Carol and the baby wrapped her little hand around his thumb.

Carol looked at him "She looks like you" he gently kissed Carol. "I was thinking that...we should name her Jordanne...after your mom"

He nodded. He actually saw a great resemblance of his mom in the baby. "It fits her perfectly"

Carol adjusted the blanket on the baby. "Hi Jordanne" she smiled down at her baby. She looked at Daryl and smiled "I love you" she rested her head on his shoulder.

He kissed her head "I love you too"


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter is full of baby cuteness!**

* * *

It was the next afternoon and Daryl and Carol were sitting with Dr. Naomi figuring out Jordanne's birth certificate.

"Daryl, you have to sign this" Dr. Naomi slid the paper over to him.

"Wait, does sign mean cursive?" He asked her.

"Yes" she replied.

"Crap. Carol can't you do it for me?" He turned around and looked at Carol, who was swaying with Jordanne in her arms. (Ana gave Jordanne a magenta pair of footies to wear)

"No, you have to sign it, you're a parent, I have to sign it too" she walked over and stood next to him.

"What if I don't remember cursive?" He looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Sweetie, just link the letters together" Carol suggested

"Hmm...ok but this is gonna suck"

"Everyone's cursive sucks" Dr. Naomi reassured him.

He signed the paper and slapped his hand on the signature. "Don't look. It's terrible. I feel like a second grader"

"Ok...Carol it's your turn" Dr. Naomi said.

Carol gave Jordanne to Daryl so she could sign the paper. She had to stop herself from signing Peletier (force of habit) and she gave it back to Dr. Naomi. She wrote down a few things and then Julia appeared in thw doorway.

"Naomi can you help me here?" She asked her and then disappeared out the door again.

She sighed. "You guys can do the rest. All that's left is her name and then you can leave it here, I'll get it later." She got up to help Julia.

Carol took the pen and paper since Daryl was still holding Jordanne. "Uh oh, Daryl"

"What's wrong? " Jordanne cooed at him and reached up her little hand.

"What's Jordanne's middle name?"

"Oh...um...I don't know, what was your mom's name?" Jordanne started crying and he rocked her gently.

"My mom's name was Isabel...she was one of the sweetest women you'd ever meet in your life..." she trailed off in memory of her mother.

"Jordanne Isabel Dixon" Jordanne stopped crying and cooed happily. Daryl looked up at Carol and smiled "I think she likes it" he looked back at his little girl "You like that?" With that she cooed happier baby noises.

Carol smiled and wrote it down. "K. C'mon we'll go home"

* * *

"Carol can you help me with this please, I'm gonna break somethin'" Daryl was having difficulties putting the bedding in the crib.

"No I can't help you, I'm holding Jordanne, just put the blankets in and stuff, it's not that hard"

"But it's so much smaller than normal bedding" he whined.

"Oh my god just give it here" she walked over to the crib and gave him the baby. She figured out the bedding in less than a minute.

"It is not that easy, you're lying"

"I just did it" she said exasperated. Jordanne started crying and Daryl rocked her.

"Is she wet?" Carol asked him

"No. She's perfectly dry" he kept rocking her.

"Put her in the crib" he set her down gently but she didn't stop crying. "Here" Carol handed him a pacifier and he stuck it in her mouth. Her cries slowed and she chewed happily on the pacifier. She started to fall asleep and Daryl and Carol left the room.

* * *

Late that night Jordanne started crying. Carol started to get up.

"No, I'll go get her" Daryl got up instead. "You sleep"

"I didn't even know you were awake" she mumbled.

"Me either"

He walked to Jordanne's room. She had spit out her pacifier and her face was red from crying. He gently picked her up and craddled her in his arms. She was wet so her layed her down on the changing table and changed her diaper. He picked her back up and she started to fall asleep on his shoulder. He put her back in her crib and turned off the lamp (which he forgot to do when she first fell asleep). When he left the room she started crying again. He turned on the lamp and walked back in, but she stopped crying. He shrugged and walked back out, turning off the lamp. She started to cry again. He started putting the pieces together. He turned on the lamp and then went to Carol.

"Hey, I figured somethin' out" he shook her awake.

"What?" She sat up weakly.

"C'mere" he pulled her up and guided her down the hall.

"What's this about Daryl? " she rubbed the tired out of her eyes.

"Jordanne's scared of the dark"

"What?"

He went in and turned off the lamp, demonstrating the crying pattern.

"Ok I believe you, just let her sleep, that's mean" she leaned on the wall since she was half asleep.

Daryl turned the lamp back on. He walked over to Carol and picked her up, carrying her to bed. He layed her down.

"Love you" she mumbled

He kissed her cheek "Love you too"


	17. Chapter 17

A few weeks later Ana came over to visit Carol and Jordanne while Daryl was helping gaurd the wall. They sat in the kitchen and Ana held Jordanne.

"She looks so much like Daryl! " Ana told Carol.

"It's because of her eyes" Carol replied as Jordanne made little fists.

Ana whispered "My little girl looked like her daddy" she looked up and saw Carol's questioning face "Before the group came along, it was just me and my daughter, right when this started. My husband was in the military and he got called to Atlanta before the broadcasts started. Once I saw the first one...I knew he was gone. People were dying in the background...But Anthony and Claire" (Ana and Anthony's sister) "called me and told me they were coming to get me and my little girl. But then the slouchers" (walkers) "broke into my apartment. I tried to fend them off. But they reached behind me and pulled my baby out...That was it, curtain call for her short seven year life." She told Carol the whole story while watching Jordanne kick her little feet around.

Carol paused. "I know what it's like...before Daryl and I got together I was married and I had a daughter. He was abusive, hurt me and my daughter...He died pretty early on after the walkers came around. Barely three months later she got lost in the woods. Everyone looked for her, Daryl looked the hardest, the longest. He looked for her when everyone else told him to stop, told him it was useless. He almost died just to bring back evidence that she was still there. A few days later we found her dead...Just not the way that a mother would ever want to see her child dead."

Ana looked at Carol "Her name was Hillary" she looked back down at Jordanne "Anthony and Claire got there after she was already gone. I invest my time in this group. I've been to hell and back"

Carol watched Ana with understanding eyes. Just then Daryl burst through the door, his arm hugging his side and blood spattered on his shirt. Carol looked back to Ana "Watch Jordanne for me" and she followed Daryl upstairs.

"Daryl? Baby what'sa matter?" She followed him into the bathroom where he started coughing up blood. Then he threw up a mixture of blood and vomit.

"Daryl what happened, are you bit?" She tried to grab him but he fell against the wall. He coughed up some more blood which left a trickle of blood on his face. She grabbed a rag and wiped it away. She could tell that he was blacking out.

"Daryl answer me" he looked weakly up at her and nodded.

He said breathlessly "I-I'm-I'm ok"

"Baby, what happened to you?" She cupped his face.

"Joel-he-he kicked my ass" he was running out of breath.

"What? Ok...we'll deal with it later just c'mere so I can fix you" she grabbed his arms and pulled him up and walked him to their room.

"Daryl baby, take off your shirt"

He winced "No"

"C'mere" she pulled him closer and gently unbuttoned his shirt then pushed it off his shoulders to the floor. She found nothing wrong with his chest so she told him to lay down. When he turned around she found a cut on his upper shoulder and the whole left side of his back was bruised.

"Oh my god, Daryl, lay down slowly"

He layed down on his chest and winced in pain. Carol grabbed some gaws and rubbing alcohol to clean out his cuts. He winced some more and Carol noticed a black circle forming around his eye.

"Daryl sit still" she was still gently cleaning.

"I can't it hurts like fuck" he winced again.

Ana appeared in the door with Jordanne "You want me to get Dr. Naomi? "

Carol looked up at her "Yeah, you do that, um, yeah give me the baby and you can go"

"Ok" Ana gave her the baby. "I'll be back"

Jordanne reached down at Daryl and started to cry.

"Put her down on the bed" Daryl mumbled. Carol set her down gently on the bed next to Daryl. He put his hand on her stomach and she grabbed his index finger and ring finger with her little hands.

"Carol?" She was watching Daryl with Jordanne.

"What, sweetie?" She stroked his hair.

"I feel a lot better now"

She smiled, leaned down and kissed his cheek. 


	18. Chapter 18

Dr. Naomi walked out of Daryl and Carol's room. Ana had left to deal with Joel and it was just Carol sitting in the hallway with Jordanne. The longer that Dr. Naomi was in there, Jordanne started to cry. Carol rocked her and tried to get her to be quiet, eventually she fell asleep and Carol put her in her crib.

"He'll be ok" she said and Carol let out a sigh of relief "I gave him some pretty heavy pain killers that should've knocked him out. I'm gonna give you some lighter pain killers for him, when he's really miserable, give him two" she pulled a bottle of pills out of her pocket and handed it to Carol.

"Thanks, I'll take care of him"

She headed for the stairs "I'll be back in a few days to check up on him"

Carol walked into their room. Daryl was asleep. He was laying on his chest, boots still on. She sat at the end of their bed and untied his boots and took them off. She got up and walked over to the nightstand and put the bottle of pain killers down. Sshe ran her hand through his hair as she noticed that his back was swelling, his face too. She leaned down and kissed his cheek. Jordanne started to cry so she left to take care of her.

* * *

"Joel! What the hell were you doing?" Ana walked over to the wall to investigate.

"I'm guessing you mean that Dixon boy?" He seemed so calm.

"Boy? Are you serious? Joel, the nicest thing I've ever heard you call someone was pit stain"

"Well I know him as boy. He's no good. I would know, none of you ever knew him before the dead people decided to visit" he lit a cigarette.

"Wait, you knew him? Why doesn't he act like it?" She was just getting more confused.

"He was a kid, he prolly' don't remember. See Dixon_boy"__  
_

"You knew him as a child? She felt a little sympathetic, she couldn't tell if it was towards Daryl or Joel.

"I was a friend of his dad"

"That doesn't explain why you beat him half to death"

He got real close to her face "I'm in love with his mother" he said through gritted teeth.

"I thought she died..."

"She did" he was gritting his teeth harder now.

Maybe Ana felt a little sympathy toward Joel now. "So you beat him...because you were mad about something beyond his control, something that probably hurt him more than it even affected you"

"I just hate him, his brother too. Their dad taught me a lot about them and hating them would probably give me some time for their mom to yell at me, time I could spend with her"

"That's insane" she was looking at him shockingly. "This is your last chance, Stanley" his last name was Stanley. She walked away.

He shouted after her "And they named that no good baby after her!"

Ana stormed back to him "Don't you dare say that! She is precious! She's barely a month old!"

"Don't. Care." He kept a straight face.

"I could kick you out" she paused and then just walked away.

"Maybe I'll beat him again tomorrow! " he laughed

She turned around and whispered "Tread. Lightly. Mother. Fucker."

"Ooh, the F-bomb, I'm scared!"

She ignored him and kept walking.

* * *

"I just would've thought that you'd fight back" Carol was laying next to Daryl and stroking his hair, trying to make him feel comfortable.

"Didn't wanna mess nothin' up"

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't wanna get kicked out, or get in trouble or anything like that"

"They wouldn't kick us out. Not with Jordanne. She's too small, even if she was older, they wouldn't kick us out" she smiled and kissed him gently. He winced. "Sorry, love"

He shook his head "Weren't you. It was my shoulder"

"Poor Pookie" she giggled.

"Yeah, go ahead laugh at me" he was holding back laughter.

"Sorry...you're just so cute when you're embarrassed" she giggled again.

"Hey so are you" he smiled at her. "C'mon..."

"What?" She had a puzzled look on her face.

"Keep laughing...it makes me feel better"

"Aww" she cupped his chin in her hand "you're so cheesey when you're in pain"

He picked up her hand and kissed it. "Everything you do makes me feel better...You're perfect..."

She smiled and kissed him lighter than before "You too"


	19. Chapter 19

Daryl sat there holding Jordanne. He couldn't help himself. He never let Carol take care of her at night. He always let her sleep while he took care of the baby. Besides, she had to take care of him nowadays. But Jordanne had fallen asleep a few hours ago. He just didn't wanna put her down. When Joel was beating him, all he could think of was his little girl.

"Daryl what are you doin'?" Carol was leaning in the doorway.

"She was cryin'"

"She looks like she's soundly sleepin'" Carol rubbed her eyes.

"Well she fell asleep a few hours ago"

"Then what are you doin'?"

"I can't put her down...I can't let go of her" He said as he watched Jordanne sleep.

"Sure you can"

"No I can't. You don't know what happened last time I let go..." he trailed off.

"Baby, she's not your brother, she's not your mother. It's ok to let her go"

He looked up at her "You have no idea" his eyes welled up with tears.

"Daryl..." she put her hands on his cheeks "You poor thing" she kissed his cheek as one of his tears fell. She took Jordanne from him and put her in her crib. She took Daryl's hands and pulled him up. He winced a little since his back and shoulder were still messed up (his face was ok now). "C'mon, love, lets go to bed"

* * *

"Hey you" Daryl walked into the kitchen after he woke up the next morning.

"You sleep good?"

"Yeah..."

She eyed him in curiosity "but..."

"...bad dreams"

"Poor baby" she held out her arm and he walked over to her so she could kiss him. "You ok?"

"Carol..." he sat in the seat next to her "I gotta tell you something..."

* * *

One year later

* * *

Daryl carried Jordanne to her room. He flicked on her nightlight. He layed her down in her crib. He lightly tickled her. She started giggling. He smiled down at her.

"Go to sleep. Tomorrow Laicey and Joey are comin' over" Laicey was one of the women living a few blocks over and Joey was her baby boy.

She started whining as Daryl left the room.

"Baby, don't make me go back in ther I'm tired" he said as he turned around and went back into her room.

She was standing in her crib and whining.

"Lay down" he pointed to her pillow "Lay down" She just stood there, reaching up at him. "I'm not gonna pick you up so lay down"

She just kept whining.

"I'm gonna leave" he walked towards the door "unless you lay down right now"

She kept reaching for him and whining "Dad-dy!"

He turned around and walked back to her "You-you just said daddy, you just called me daddy"

She started giggling as she reached up for him.

He lifted her up and kissed her cheek. "I love you Jordanne"

She couldn't say 'I love you' back to him but she held onto him tight and eventually fell asleep in his arms.

He put her in her crib and went to his room. Carol was reading some sort of book that she found in the basement.

"Why are you so smiley? " she asked as he walked in the room.

He sat down in front of her in the bed "Guess who just called me daddy"

She gasped and smiled "She talked!?"

He nodded "Yeah"

They laughed together. Her laughter died down "Are you distracted enough now?"

His smile faded away and he looked down at his freshly heavily scarred wrists. He nodded. "I'll be alright"

She crawled out from under the covers and scooted closer to him. She wrapped his arms around him and put her lips to his ear "Baby I love you, please talk to me when you're hurting"

"I told you what happened"

"You could've said something sooner...I can help you baby..." she trailed off

He nodded. "I miss them..."

She kissed him "I know...you'll live...I did"


	20. Chapter 20

Three years later.

* * *

"Daddy I aint tired" Jordanne whined as Daryl was putting her to bed.

"Yes you are. You have to sleep" he pulled her covers over her.

"I don't wanna sleep" she rubbed her eyes, she was obviously tired.

"Baby please, go to sleep"

She rolled onto her side under her covers "Daddy?"

"What?" He stroked of her brown curls away from her eye.

"Tell me a story"

He threw his head back "Ugh, I don't know any stories"

"Yes you do!" She giggled at him.

"Alright alright" he sat on the bed next to her "What do want me to tell you about?"

"What was it like before you got me?" Se cuddled onto his shoulder.

"Like way before you got here, or right before you got here?"

She shrugged. This was getting no where.

"Did you know that the walkers didn't used to be there" She shook her head "You wanna hear about that?" She nodded. "Well, before the walkers, little four year old girls didn't need to have knives in their rooms"

"I never used it" she interrupted.

"Thats good. But anyways, well...we got the tv every day"

"Really!" She interrupted him again "Were we rich?"

He laughed "Sorta...And we always had lots of food. The walls weren't there"

"Daddy, what does it look like behind the walls?"

"A lot of garbage. A lot of walkers"

Jordanne yawned.

"Baby go to sleep ok?" He kissed her head and got up.

"Will you tell me more tomorrow? "

He smiled at her, "I'll always tell you more. I love you Jordanne"

"Love you too daddy" she curled up under the covers and closed her eyes.

Daryl walked out of the room and saw Carol standing there. "How much you hear?"

"All of it, I always listen to you tuck her in" she smiled at him and kissed him.

He grabbed her hand and they went to bed.

* * *

He woke up and saw Jordanne standing there watching him.

"What are you doing?" He mumbled to her.

"I can't sleep." She said and she hugged her teddy bear.

"Well it's morning now, you ain't sposed to be sleeping anymore" she just kept watching him. He sighed. "You wanna come in bed with us?"

Without a response she climbed over Daryl and in between him and Carol. Carol woke up and turned around to find Jordanne in bed with her.

"Hey you" she said to her, brushing some hair out of her face.

"Hi mommy" she hugged her bear to her face. Carol kissed her forehead.

"Baby you gotta go to school today" she told her.

She spun around and buried her face in the pillow. "No I don't wanna!"

Daryl rubbed her back "That's my girl"

"Daryl she has to go to school"

"Yeah but school sucks!" He made her laugh when he said it. Jordanne started to giggle listening to them laugh.

"Well I'm gonna get her dressed" Carol picked up Jordanne. "You gonna take her down there or am I?"

"I'll take her"

"K, baby let's go get you ready" she told Jordanne and they left the room.

Daryl opened his drawer and pulled out the picture of him and his brother. He hadn't looked at it in a long time.

"Why'd you have to die?" He whispered "I need you..."


End file.
